Composite railway tie



G. H. PEG-RAM.

COMPOSITE RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1920.

1 A25, 686. Patented Aug. 15, 1922.

ATTORNE v T 0 all whom it may concern UNETEQ earner airmen.

GEORGE E. PEGRAM, or sourrr ORANGE, new JERSEY.

COMPOSITE RAILWAY TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Pai gnted Aug, 15 1922,

Application filed July 2, 1920. Serial No. 393,542.

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. PEsnAM,

a citizen of the United States, residing at South Orange, county'of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Composite Railway Ties, of which the following is a specishocks and vibrations, due to the operation of cars thereover, are minimized and distributed. e v r I A further object is to provide a railway tie structure Which permits the'leveling or surfacing of the track rails without disturbing the bedding of the ties in the road bed. I

A further object is to provide a railway tie which permits the tilting or angular lateral adjustmentv of the track rails.

A further object isto provide a railway tie structure, which, when properly positioned in the road bed, resists the action of endwise thrust exerted thereon by the operation of cars along track rails supported thereby. I

A further object is to provide a railway tie structure in which the pressure on the road-bed. ballast is distributed and any tendency of the tie to be moved endwise is resisted. r

A further object is to provide a composite railway cross-tie in which the track rails are mounted upon wooden it members to secure a desirable resiliency and insulation, and these wooden members are supported .upon concrete members to assist in taking the stresses and strains, and along which .the stresses and strainsare distributed, and

whereln, in case of derallment of a car the concrete supporting member of the tie is guarded from the impact of the wheels of the derailed car,

A further object is to provide a composite cross-tie in which wooden members are seated in the concrete member toreceive, cushion and distribute the eight and load of cars passing along track rails" supported by the cross tiep Other objects or the invention-will sppear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially the construction, combination, location and.

relative arrangement ofjparts, all as will be i more fully hereinafterset forth, as shown in the accompanying drawing, and finally pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein I have shown constructlons embodying the principles aboveoutlined,

Fig. 1 is a view in'front elevation of a compositetie embodying the principles of my invention, showing an arrangement which secures an inclined or tilted-position of the track rails. :7 Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same. 'Fig. 3 is a view similar to-Fig. 1 showing a structurein which the track rails are not inclined or tilted. a

Fig. 4 is a view in section transversely of the tie onthe line 4, 4, Figs. 1 and '3.

Fig. 5 'is a similar view on the line5,-5

Fig. 1.

The same part is designated by the same referencecharacter wherever it appears throughout the several views,

Concrete ties as heretofore constructed, are open to many and serious disadvantages.

They require comblioated and diflicult iias'a tenings for, securing the track rails thereto. It is diificult, and expensive to effectively insulate the track rails, this usually requiring the use of padsof fibre or other insu-E lating material, and insulating bushings. for V the securing bolts, Suchpads'and bushings wear out rapidly and require constant care and attention and frequentrepair and'replacement. In the use of concrete ties the blows, shocks and vibrations, due to thepounding of the car wheels upon the rail joints, are transmitted more or "less directly tothe tiessince thereislittleto secure a cushioning action, and this causes. fatigue-"41 and rapid disintegration in' a crystalline structure llke'con'crete. Moreover, in order to distribute the pressure over the road bed large sizes of ties are required, 'andithis means great weight andconsequent difficulty in handling the-ties;

It is among the special purposes of my present invention to provide a combined. wood and concrete tie which secures .allthe advantages and benefitsof both types ofties;

and which at the same time avoids the disadvantages of either.

In carrying out my invention, and in one embodiment thereof, I propose to employ a concrete tie, which, if desired, may be reinforced in the usual manner with steel or other rods, bars, or the like, and which is bedded transversely across the road bed in the usual Way, and I construct or form the concrete tie with a seat in the upper surface thereof adjacent each end, each seat extending longitudinally of the tie and being formed at its ends with raised shoulders to receive and supportthe ends of short wooden members, the end walls of the seats in the concrete tie being shaped to retain the wooden members against longitudinal and lateral displacement. The track rails are mountedupon and fastened to the wooden members in the usual way. By thus supporting the short wooden members by resting their ends upon the raised shoulders at the ends of the seats in the concrete ties, a clearance is provided between the central portions of the wooden members and the bottoms of the seats. This permits a desirable yielding or bending of the wooden members under the action of loads passing alongthe track rails supported thereby, which absorbs the shocks and vibrations, thereby relieving the concrete portion of the composite ties of the effects thereof.

Moreover, I am enabled by this arrangement to secure a desirable distribution of the load not only to adjacent ties but also along the length of each tie, thereby reducing the stresses in the tie and permitting the use of smaller sizes of ties than would otherwise be'possibleor practicable. Since the wooden members are coextensive in width with the concrete sub-ties, and also extend on each side of the rails, they provide protection for the concrete against damage from derailed wheels.

In the operation of railway cars or trains along-track rails, the flanges on the wheels operating along the inner sides of the rails exert a lateral outward thrust upon the rails which thrust is transmitted, of course, to the cross ties. In order to counteract the effects of this lateral thrust and to transmit the pressures to the road bed at an angle it has been proposed to set the track rails at an angle inclined inwardly from the vertical. To accomplish this result in a structure embodying; my invention the shoulder at the outer end of each seat in the concrete tie upon which rests the outer end of the track supporting member is inclined upwardly and outwardly with reference to the shoulders' at the inner ends of the seats. This arrangement positions the wooden member in an inclined position, therebysecurine the desired tilt orangular "inclination or the track rails. Inthis connection, and in further carrying out this feature of my invention, I may also correspondingly incline upwardly and outwardly the under surfaces of the ends of the concrete ties, thereby seeuring a better distributed resistance of the road bed to the thrust exerted upon the track rails by the car wheel flanges The inclined position of the track rails causes the top surfaces of the rails to conform more closely to the con'ing of the wheel treads, thereby bringing the wheel pressure more nearly to the lateral central line of the rail. This increases the life of the rail by reduc ing the wear'to which the rail is subjected, and by centralizingthe pressure with reference to the transverse width of the rail fracture from transverse fissures is in a measure prevented.

Again, in order to surface or level up the track rails, it is a common expedient, accordingto present practice, to tamp the cross ties. This operation disturbs more or less the bedding: of the ties in the road bed, and since a railway track is a continuous connected up structure the disturbance in the bedding of a tie when tamped is trans mitted to other adjacent ties for a considerable distance on opposite sides of the tie that is tamped. This is particularly undesirable and in accordance with my invention this trouble is wholly obviated by employingsuitable shims which are inserted under the ends of the track supporting members, by which means the track rails are easily surfaced or leveled up without disturbing the bedding of the ties. The adjustment secured by the use of the shims localizes the effect of surfacing the track rails and permits such work to be accomplished without difii'culty even when the road bed may be frozen and theordinary tamping consequently impossible. This also enables the concrete ties to be left undisturbed in their bedding in the road-bed for longer periods which is conducive to the maintenance of a good road-bed.

In the drawing reference letter-A designates a cross tie, which, in accordance with my invention, is constructed of concrete, and, if desired, and'as shown, which may be reinforced by means of metal rods or other.

ifdesired, and preferabl is a wooden beam.

In this connection, however, I wish it to be understood-- that invention is not to be *llIIlltQd or restricted to a Wooden member, as

. rail tracks.

clined, as indicated in Fig. 3, then the cross a rail beam of any desired material may be employed. The rails E are positioned transversely across and are secured to the members B in the usual or any suitable manner. The ends of the seats in which the rail car rying members B are received are formed at each end thereof with raised shoulders Z) upon which the shims C rest for adjusting the rail and to receive the ends of the members B. This arrangement provides a space a between the central portions of the members B and the bottoms of the seats, thereby causing these members to be: supported at theirends and leaving the middle portions thereof free to bend or flex under the weights imposed thereon; In orderto retain the members B against displacement in their seats in the concrete tie, said seats are formed at their ends with engaging walls, or lugs a, a, for each end of the beams, or members B, and the ends of these members are shaped to the complementary form of the lugs or end walls a, so that their interengagement therewith when the members B are positioned in the seats, serves to retain said members against displacement horizontally as well as laterally.

-Where it is desired to" cant or tilt the traclr'rails laterally and inwardly as indicated in Fig. l in order to more satisfactorily take and transmit the outward thrust of the car wheel flanges, the seating. surfaces of the shoulders I; which receive and'support the ends of the members B are formed to lie in planes which are inclined upwardly and outwardly to-v wards the respective ends of the cross tie,

and to the required or desired angle ofinclination, as is shown at for example. My invention therefore, efficiently lends itself readily and easily to the laying of inclined If the rails are not to be inrail supporting cross-beams adjustablyem t I bedded near the ends thereof, said beams being. supported at their ends only and terminating in wedge-shaped endsfor retention'in correspondingly shaped recesses.

2. A composite railway tie comprising a cross'member of reinforced concrete having upwardly inclined end portions, said inclined end portions having recesses forming seats in combination with rail supporting members seated and supported at their ends only in said recesses and retained by the side and end walls thereof against longi- I tudinal and lateral displacement.

3. A composite tie for railway rails comprising a cross member of reinforced con-.

crete having its end portions longitudinally inclned to give a tilt to the rail, said inclined end portions having depressions in the upper surfaces thereof with raised ledges at theends of said depressions, and rail supporting members seated said depres sions and supportedat their ends on said ledges, said depressions having side and end walls, the side wall portions thereof engaging portions only of the sides of said rail supporting members, whereby said supporting members are retained against bothlateral and longitudinal displacement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 8th ,day of June .A. D.,

- GEORGE H. PEGRAM. 

